CHAPTER XVIII.
1855.
THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC.
THE story of the invitation of Richard Wagner, the then dreaded iconoclast of music, to London, to conduct the concerts of the conservative Philharmonic Society, is both curious and interesting, in the history of the tonal art. Costa, the previous conductor, had resigned. The pressing question was, who could succeed so popular a man? The names of many German notabilities were proposed, and as soon dismissed. In England there was Sterndale Bennett, but he had quarrelled with the directors; the field was therefore open. It was then that the appointment of Wagner was suggested and agreed to. The circumstances were as follows. Prosper Sainton, the eminent violinist, was both leader of the orchestra of the Philharmonic, and one of the seven directors of the society. He was and is[8] an intimate friend of mine, and to him I proposed Richard Wagner. At that time Sainton was living with Charles Lüders, a dear, lovable German musician, with whom he had travelled on concert tours throughout Europe. From the time the two men met in Russia, they lived together for twenty-five years, until the marriage of Sainton with Miss Dolby, since which time Lüders was a daily visitor at his friend’s house, Sainton administering always to his comfort, and tending him on his death-bed, in the summer of 1884. Lüders and I were heart and soul, and catching my enthusiasm he pressed Sainton so warmly, that the name of Wagner was at once proposed. Richard Wagner was then but a myth to the average English musician. However, as Sainton was a general favourite with his colleagues, and was, further, held in high esteem on account of his artistic perception, I was requested, through his influence, to appear before the directors. I had then been a resident in the metropolis for twenty-one years; I attended at a directors’ meeting in Hanover Square, and stated my views.
Up to the present time, I have never been able to discover how it was that seven sedate gentlemen could have been so influenced by my red-hot enthusiasm as to have been led to offer the appointment to Richard Wagner. I found that they either knew very little of him or nothing at all, nor did I know him personally; I was but the reflection of August Roeckel; as a composer, however, I had become so wholly his partisan as to regard him the genius of the age. The crusade in favour of Richard Wagner, upon which I then entered with so much fervour, will be best understood by an article contributed by me at the time to the “New York Musical Gazette,”[9] parts of which I think it advisable to reproduce here, even at the expense of repeating an incident or two. The article was summarized in the London musical papers, and immediately a shower of virulent abuse fell upon me which, however, at no period affected in the slightest my ardour for Wagner’s cause.
AN EDITOR AGITATED.
The musical public of London is in a state of excitement which cannot be described. Costa, the autocrat of London conductors, is just now writing an oratorio, and no longer cares for what he would have sacrificed anything for before he got possession of it, namely, the conductorship of the Old Philharmonic; and whom to have in his place, has for some time sorely puzzled the directors of the said society. No Englishman would do, that is certain, for the orchestra adores Costa; and besides, it belongs to Covent Garden, where Costa reigns supreme (and where he really does wonders; being musical conductor and stage manager; looking after the mise en scène and everything else with remarkable intelligence). Whom to seek for, the government knew not. They made overtures to Berlioz, but he had already signed an engagement with the New Philharmonic, their presumptuous and hated rival. Things looked serious, appalling, to the Old Philharmonic; they were in danger of losing many subscribers, and a strong tide was setting in against them. At last, seeing themselves on the verge of dissolution, and the New Philharmonic ready to act as pall-bearers, they resolved upon a risk-all, life-or-death remedy, and Richard Wagner was engaged! Yes; this red republican of music is to preside over the Old Philharmonic of London, the most classical, orthodox, and exclusive society on this globe.
Mr. Anderson, the conductor of the queen’s private band, and acting director of the Old Philharmonic, was despatched as minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary to Zurich, where Wagner is staying, to open negotiations and conclude arrangements, and happily succeeded in his mission. Wagner agreed to give up certain previously made conditions (some correspondence had taken place on the subject), which required a second conductor for the vocal part of the concerts, and unlimited rehearsals. In regard to pecuniary considerations, Wagner rather astonished the entire John Bull; he coolly told Mr. Anderson that he was too much occupied to give that point much thought, and only desired to know at what time he (Wagner) would be wanted in London. The society has requested Wagner to have some of his works performed here. He, however, has written nothing for concerts on former occasions; he has arranged a suite of morceaux from each of his three operas, and these give a public, unacquainted with his works, some idea of his peculiarities.
To see Wagner and Berlioz, the two most ultra red republicans existing in music, occupying the two most prominent positions in the musical world of this classical, staid, sober, proper, exclusive, conservative London, is an unmitigatedly “stunning” fact. We are now ready for anything, and nothing more can astonish us. Some of our real old cast-iron conservatives will never recover from this shock—among others, the editor of the London “Musical World.” This estimable gentleman is in a truly deplorable state, whereby his friends are caused much concern. The engagement of Wagner seems to have affected his brain, and from the most amiable of men and truthful of critics, he has changed to the—well, see his journal. He lavishes abuse, in language no less violent than vehement, upon Wagner and all who will not condemn “poor Richard” without hearing him. Wagner once wrote an article, “Das Judenthum in der Musik” (“Judaism in Music”), in which he conclusively proves that a Jew is not a Christian, and neither looks nor “feels,” nor talks nor moves like one, and consequently does not compose like a Christian; and in that same article, which is written with exceeding cleverness, Wagner makes a severe onslaught upon Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer, on Judaistic grounds. The editor of the London “Musical World,” considering himself one of Mendelssohn’s heirs, and Mendelssohn having (so it is said) hated Wagner, ergo, must the enraged editor also hate him? He certainly seems to do so, “con molto gusto.”
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Wagner is at Zurich, quietly industrious, and does not even know or care about the hue and cry concerning him, which is raised by a set of idlers, who wish to identify themselves with something new and great; being nothing themselves, nor likely ever to be anything.